Coaster wagon with dished body for stacking



March 22, 1966 p s 3,241,853

COASTER WAGON WITH DISHED BODY FOR STOCKING Original Filed March 20,1962 INVENTOR. ANTON/O p4S/N United States Patent 3,241,353 COASTERWAGON WITH DISHED BODY FOR STACKING Antonio Pasin, River Forest, Ill.,assignor to Radio Steel & Mfg. Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofIllinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 181,006, Mar. 20, 1962.This application Jan. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 423,705 4 Claims. (Cl.280-87.01)

This invention relates to coaster wagons and more particularly to a newand improved body construction for coaster wagons. This is acontinuation of my copending application, Serial No. 181,006, filedMarch 20, 1962, and entitled: Coaster Wagon and now abandoned.

It is an object of this invention to produce a new and improved coasterwagon having a body construction which is free of sharp edges; having abody construction which is free of wrinkles in the corner portions;having a body construction which is capable of being stacked intelescoping relationship for maximum storage in minimum space, both inassembly and in shipment; which provides a new, novel and moreattractive appearance and which is capable of manufacture in a simpleand efficient manner, and it is a related object to produce a coasterwagon body of the type described having an improved edge constructionwhich provides a smooth and wrinkle free corner construction.

These and other objects of this invention will hereinafter appear and,for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of theinvention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a coaster wagon body embodyingthe features of this invention, with the wheels and handle portionillustrated in broken lines;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the coaster wagon shown in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the edge construction of thewagon body; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view which illustrates the stackingrelationship made available in a wagon body of the type described.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, illustration is made in brokenlines of the wheels 10, the handle 12, turntable 14 and fork 16, all ofwhich form conventional parts of a coaster wagon and therefore need notbe more specifically defined.

The important concept of this invention resides in the construction ofthe steel body portion 20 of the wagon which is supported on the wheelaxles by the Wheel braces 22. The body is formed of a single sheet ofsteel or other metal with a flat bottom wall 24 of rectangular shape andwith end Walls 26 and side walls 28 which extend upwardly and outwardlyfrom the outer edges of the bottom wall with a curvilinear fillet 30 inboth whereby the upper edges of the side and end walls define arectangular section of larger crosswise and lengthwise dimension thanthe bottom wall.

From the upper edge, the body portion is formed with a horizontallydisposed outwardly extending flanged portion 32 and the free edgeportion integral with the outer edge of the flange is rolled under theflange to define a loop 34 having its largest cross section at theoutermost end with diminishing cross section as the free edge 36 extendsinwardly and upwardly toward the underside of the flanged portion 32thereby to define a smoothly looped curvilinear edge portion which isfree of sharp edges, which is sufficiently well protected and confinedto minimize entrapment of the dirt or other materials within the opening38 defined between the looped end portion and the flange 32, whichprovides for an edge construction of high strength and stiffness, andwhich can be formed in a simple and easy manner without the wrinkling orcreasing at the corners which are characteristic of a flat edge or acylindrical edge construction.

The body design with a flat bottom wall 24 and outwardly and upwardlyinclined side and end walls 28 provides for a dished body constructionwhich enables a plurality of the body members to be telescoped one intothe other for stacking, as illustrated in FIG. 5, whereby a considerablygreater number of pre-formed bodies can be stored in a minimum of spacethereby not only to facilitate manufacture but also materially to reducethe cost of storage and transportation when in a knocked-down position.

The wagon body is preferably also formed with curvilinear cornersections between the side and end walls with the corner sectionsincreasing in radius from the bottom side to the top side. The rollededge in the curvilinear corner portions can be formed without creases orwrinkles which are otherwise normally introduced when the edge is formedof a rounded cylindrical bead or sheet flat members.

The construction of the wagon body with side and end walls taperingupwardly and outwardly continuously from the edges of the bottom wallalso functions to enhance the ease and comfort of the wagon in use, aswell as to increase the capacity and apparent size of the coaster wagon.The height of the side and end walls is small by comparison with thelength and width of the wagon, and the flair of the side and end wallsoutwardly and upwardly from the edges of the bottom wall gives to thecoaster wagon the appearance of streamlining and of increased sizewithout actual increase in the amount of material.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details ofconstruction, arrangement and operation without departing from thespirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A coaster wagon comprising a coaster wagon body, a pair of rearwheels mounted for rotational movement on the opposite ends of a rearaxle, a pair of front wheels mounted for rotational movement on theopposite ends of a front axle, means mounting the rear portion of thewagon body on the rear axle, means pivotally mounting the forward endportion of the wagon body on the front axle for turning movement of thefront axle about a horizontal axis relative to the wagon body, a forkconnected to the front axle and a handle pivotally mounted on the forkfor steering the wagon, said wagon body comprising a single piece ofsheet metal drawn to shape with a horizontally disposed substantiallyrectangular flat bottom wall, end walls and side walls which extendupwardly and outwardly smoothly and without interruption from the edgesof the bottom wall to define a substantially rectangularly shaped opentop which is of larger crosswise and lengthwise dimension than thebottom wall, a flat horizontally disposed flange extending outwardlycontinuously from the upper edge of the side and end walls and an endportion contiguous with the outer edge of the flange and turnedcurvilinearly downwardly and inwardly smoothly and substantially withoutcracks or creases through an angle greater than but less than 225 andthen extending in a straight line angularly inwardly and upwardly towardthe underside of the flange to a point closely adjacent the side and endWalls to pro vide a rim portion that is of greater width than length andin which the corner portions between the bottom and (.9 the side and endwalls are formed as curvilinear fillets and the corner portions betweenthe end and side walls are of curvilinear shape with increasing radiifrom the lower end upwardly to the top.

2. A coaster wagon as claimed in claim 1 in which the body portion isformed of sheet metal of high strength and rigidity.

3. A coaster wagon as claimed in claim 1 in which the portion of theflange turned curvilinearly downwardly and inwardly extends at an anglewithin the range of 180 to 210 from the end of the flange.

4. A coaster wagon as claimed in claim 1 in which the curvilinearlyshaped corner portions between the end and side walls are free ofcreases and cracks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1883 Jacobs280-33.99 2/1925 Roemer 280-4735 8/1933 Blackrnore 28087.01

12/1935 Korte 280-87.01 7/1944 Tofanelli 220-97 1/1957 Cheeley 220-74FOREIGN PATENTS 10/1931 Great Britain.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

1. A COASTER WAGON COMPRISING A COASTER WAGON BODY A PAIR OF REAR WHEELSMOUNTED FOR ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT ON THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF A REAR AXLE, APAIR OF FRONT WHEELS MOUNTED FOR ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT ON THE OPPOSITEENDS OF A FRONT AXLE, MEANS MOUNTING THE REAR PORTION OF THE WAGON BODYON THE REAR AXLE, MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE FORWARD END PORTION OFTHE WAGON BODY ON THE FRONT AXLE FOR TURNING MOVEMENT OF THE FRONT AXLEABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS RELATIVE TO THE WAGON BODY, A FORK CONNECTED TOTHE FRONT AXLE AND A HANDLE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE FORK FOR STEERINGTHE WAGON, SAID WAGON BODY COMPRISING A SINGLE PIECE OF SHEET METALDRAWN TO SHAPE WITH A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULARFLAT BOTTOM WALL, END WALLS AND SIDE WALLS WHICH EXTEND UPWARDLY ANDOUTWARDLY SMOOTHLY AND WITHOUT INTERRUPTION FROM THE EDGES OF THE BOTTOMWALL TO DEFINE A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULARLY SHAPED OPEN TOP WHICH IS OFLARGER CROSSWISE AND LENGTHWISE DIMENSION THAN THE BOTTOM WALL, A FLATHORIZONTALLY DISPOSED FLANGE EXTENDING OUTWARDLY CONTINUOUSLY FROM THEUPPER EDGE OF THE SIDE AND END WALLS AND AN END PORTION CONTIGUOUS WITHTHE OUTER EDGE OF THE FLANGE AND TURNED CURVILINEARLY DOWNWARDLY ANDINWARDLY SMOOTHLY AND SUBSTANTIALLY WITHOUT CRACKS OR CREASES THROUGH ANANGLE GREATER THAN 180* BUT LESS THAN 225* AND THEN EXTENDING IN ASTRAIGHT LINE ANGULARLY INWARDLY AND UPWARDLY TOWARD THE UNDERSIDE OFTHE FLANGE TO A POINT CLOSELY ADJACENT THE SIDE AND END WALLS TO PROVIDEA RIM PORTION THAT IS OF GREATER WIDTH THAN LENGTH AND IN WHICH THECORNER PORTIONS BETWEEN THE BOTTOM AND THE SIDE AND END WALLS ARE FORMEDAS CURVILINEAR FILLETS AND THE CORNER PORTIONS BETWEEN THE END AND SIDEWALLS ARE OF CURVILINEAR SHAPE WITH INCREASING RADII FROM THE LOWER ENDUPWARDLY TO THE TOP.